3 ms·

Your theory entirely falls apart when you acknowledge that there are warm places in the country that don't have large homeless populations.

colinmhayes 5y ago
Yes, homeless people want to live near wealthy people who don't mind being surrounded by the homeless. Most large cities in the US have this, but sunbelt ones typically are more conservative and therefore harsher on the homeless. There are of course many other reasons why homeless leave too. Harsh summers, car dominant culture are obvious ones.
Aloha 5y ago
Yes, warm places, which in exchange for not having a brutal winter, have a brutal summer. It seems to me that all 'temperate' locations, do have a huge homeless issue, Summer in Texas is enough to drive the homeless away.
- 0_____0 5y ago
  But that's simply not true. Much of the Southeast US is considered a temperate climate, and homelessness is not an acute problem like it is on the west coast. Miami, while humid, doesn't often get above the low 90s and has one of the lowest homeless-per-capita rates of cities in the US. The entire European Mediterranean region has similar weather to the Western US and doesn't have the same homelessness issue. Lake Tahoe, Chicago, NYC, Vancouver hit freezing in the winter and do have homelessness. I think it's easier to permit homelessness when people don't freeze to death or become heat casualties, but the causes are way more complex than the weather being nice year round.
  - Aloha 5y ago
    You try living outside in the Southeast during winter, and tell me how temperate it is.
    - Aloha 5y ago
      Winter or Summer.
    - 0_____0 5y ago
      It's definitely on the edge of the 'temperate' classification.
MisterBastahrd 5y ago
The Los Angeles metro population would rank fifth largest were its own state. San Francisco's is similar to the size of Louisiana's. Population density matters when talking about the visibility of homeless people, even before getting to how stupidly expensive those places are.

colinmhayes 5y ago

Yes, homeless people want to live near wealthy people who don't mind being surrounded by the homeless. Most large cities in the US have this, but sunbelt ones typically are more conservative and therefore harsher on the homeless. There are of course many other reasons why homeless leave too. Harsh summers, car dominant culture are obvious ones.

Aloha 5y ago

Yes, warm places, which in exchange for not having a brutal winter, have a brutal summer. It seems to me that all 'temperate' locations, do have a huge homeless issue, Summer in Texas is enough to drive the homeless away.

0_____0 5y ago
But that's simply not true. Much of the Southeast US is considered a temperate climate, and homelessness is not an acute problem like it is on the west coast. Miami, while humid, doesn't often get above the low 90s and has one of the lowest homeless-per-capita rates of cities in the US. The entire European Mediterranean region has similar weather to the Western US and doesn't have the same homelessness issue. Lake Tahoe, Chicago, NYC, Vancouver hit freezing in the winter and do have homelessness. I think it's easier to permit homelessness when people don't freeze to death or become heat casualties, but the causes are way more complex than the weather being nice year round.
- Aloha 5y ago
  You try living outside in the Southeast during winter, and tell me how temperate it is.
  - Aloha 5y ago
    Winter or Summer.
  - 0_____0 5y ago
    It's definitely on the edge of the 'temperate' classification.

MisterBastahrd 5y ago

The Los Angeles metro population would rank fifth largest were its own state. San Francisco's is similar to the size of Louisiana's. Population density matters when talking about the visibility of homeless people, even before getting to how stupidly expensive those places are.